As a self-proclaimed beer nerd, it’s always a delight to see new beer on the shelf. So when I walked into Joe’s Wine earlier this week, I was happy to experience just that pleasure. Considering that we’ve been engrossed by several weeks of Chuck Spypeck’s insight into the brewing world, I thought it’d be nice to take a break over a pint. And just in time for the weekend, too.
Hop heads, rejoice! Three of the four beers to be reviewed are, as we will see, simply fantastic IPA’s: Sierra Nevada’s 2011 Estate Homegrown Wet Hop Ale and the brand new Ruthless Rye IPA as well as Chug’s Private Stash Big Bite IPA by Spanish Peaks Brewing Co. The fourth beer, also from Spanish Peaks, is Chugs’s Private Stash Big Bite Peach Wheat.
So let’s get this started, shall we?
First up is Sierra Nevada Estate. While not exactly a new beer to Memphis, Estate is released once a year so it’s been quite some time since I’ve had the pleasure of cracking one of these open. From their website:
“From our fields comes a remarkable homegrown ale, made with organic wet hops and barley grown at our brewery here in Chico and one of the few estate-made ales produced anywhere in the world!”